Vermont Avenue

I have been living in Los Angeles since 1987.  I was 18 when we moved to Los Angeles from New Jersey.  Yes, it was quite a culture shock.  But I quickly learned to love the sun and the city with its many nuances.  On a good day, I can even tolerate the traffic.  

Today, I had the opportunity to drive down Vermont Avenue.  I usually avoid this street because, despite the name bringing to mind a tranquil street, it is anything but.  

It takes the traveller through major parts of the city, from mid-Wilshire to South Central.  In the middle, you can find yourself going through Koreatown with its many restaurants, karaoke bars and optical boutiques.  The smell of Korean bbq makes you want to stop and try to find parking in one of its many crowded mini-malls.  The mostly Latino area with its restaurants, markets and religious stores where you can buy a dress for your Nino Dios.  It is a very busy thoroughfare with many sights, smells, sounds and colors. 

For me, it was a trip down memory lane.  I remember my days as a community college student taking the bus down this busy street.  As I drove down on my way to pick up my parents from a party they were attending near USC, I could remember moments spent on different parts of Vermont Avenue with different people.   The corner of Washington and Vermont, where my friend Emi and I would spent hours waiting for the bus.  The time my friend Barbara and I went to a party with one of her beaus and we had to walk a long way from where we parked just to get to his house.  His family stared at us like we were bugs the entire time!  I still ponder that one sometimes.

The Korean restaurant that became a favorite during my USC days where my roommate Lisa and I would escape to during midterms and finals.  It stays open till the wee hours of the morning, and Korean food goes great with a hangover.  The Salvadorean bank where one can never find parking and you always get the feeling that you are going to be held up by one of the old timers who hang out there.  

I spent many days and hours walking down this street with my friends.  This is before I ever learned to drive and had a car.  What can I say, I am a late bloomer.  

As I drove down and enjoyed the sights and sounds, I was reminded of many people I have lost touch of throughout the years.  People like my friend Emi who would ride her bike up and down this street to get to LACC each day.  She got hit by a car a few times.  I remember the cuts and bruises.  There was also the Jack in the Box on Adams and Vermont where we would buy fries before going to St. Agnes for our Girl Scout meetings.  My days as a Girl Scout Leader shaping the young minds of the future are best left for another posting.  The Tacos Unicos just across the street where Hector, Ana and I would buy dinner before heading home.  It used to be a small restaurant, but it is now being remodeled into a bigger one to accomodate its growing clientele.

The memories are many and as I drove and remembered, I wondered if any of the people in my memories ever drive down Vermont and think of me as fondly as I think of them.